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The theme this month is Energy Harvesting and it comes from a suggestion from fmilburn. Energy harvesting, sometimes called energy scavenging, involves capturing small amounts of energy that would otherwise be lost. The idea is to build projects that involve capturing energy from ambient sources (such solar, wind, vibration, heat, motion, sound) and storing it in an associated storage such as rechargeable batteries, super capacitors, ceramic capacitors, and polymer capacitors. Because this is a very promising eco-friendly technology, that is yet to meet its potential, we've added an Energy Development Platform Kit as the Grand Prize for the project that inspires the world (the most) to reuse wasted energy! The kit includes four linear voltage converters that are optimized for different energy sources such as solar, electromagnetic, piezo electric, or thermal energy converters. There's also the usual $100 shopping cart for the 3 first winners. Energy harvesting can be used as an alternative or a supplement to batteries for low-power, lower voltage applications such as a wireless sensor node, where it may be used as a secondary energy source to recharge a battery. It is well suited for applications that require back-up battery, especially in remote or locations that are difficult to reach. The energy that is typically captured is small so its ideal for any low voltage, low-power project such as a wearable or portable device. The goal of energy harvesting developers is to create self-sustaining and/or improve the efficiency of non-sustainable systems.

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The theme this month is Electronic Toys and it comes from a suggestion from dougw and beacon_dave . You could build an electronic toy such as an executive toy, puzzle toy, educational toy, or cuddly toy. Or, you can follow in the footsteps of the very first theme that launched this program and create a techno toy from an existing toy by adding electronic innards. As dougw points out, while some on this forum may find toys juvenile, it was after all the theme that launched this entire program, toy design design can be very sophisticated and its definitely big business. Games and toys often drive the electronics industry to develop new technology. The video game industry comes to mind, and its also been the vehicle that's driven interest in computing and electronics engineering for many. That's why we've added the Super Nintendo Entertainment System Classic on top of the grand prize of a $200 Shopping Cart. Its a fun, modern take on a classic game console. If you're like me you have memories of playing endless rounds of Street Fighter 2 and NBA Jam back in the 90s. Additionally, three first place winners receive a $100 shopping cart. Have fun and be creative. Electronic Toys come in all forms. You might even consider building a toy that is geared to STEM, an executive toy which you can take to the office, a puzzle game to keep you sharp, or something fun that brings joy and smile to the faces of kids (and young at heart).